Comments: James Blake, Andy Roddick and the greatest player ever

APHe can serve and volley or stay back -- he can do it all. Roger Federer is "one of the greatest ... athletes of any generation."Over at the official Australian Open website, they’ve gathered players' Twitter feeds on one big social media page. Seems like a good idea ... until you start to read the tweets. If you can get through more than a handful of them without blacking out from boredom, then you deserve a special pass to next year's CES. Here's a representative sampling:

"Had a great dinner in a restaurant at the beach last night. Saw a beautiful sunset. Off to practice now."(Sabine Lisicki)

"Just came back from the Adidas meeting! Going to have a small nap before i go practice with my doubles partner Anabel at 5!"(Caroline Wozniacki)

"have developed this new liking for country music... i guess when you live in austin tx long enough........."(Andy Roddick)

To be fair, they're tennis players in the midst of a Grand Slam event. They've got to stay focused on the task at hand -- which involves being outdoors, away from their laptops and iPhones. So here's a better idea: checking in with the expert commenters here at The Spin of the Ball. Take this selection:

The upcoming James Blake-Juan Martin del Potro match:

From girltennis: I find your belief that Blake has a chance at all -- fancy new coach or not -- endlessly endearing. Blake's a choker -- always has been, always will be. Unless he has a complete personality change overnight, we'll be seeing him go down in another five-setter before the tournament is out.

Maria Sharapova's place in the celebrity firmament:

From Lucky7even: I don't find it harder to take Sharapova seriously than I did Agassi when he wore blingy earrings and did his fair share of vanity projects, if that's what we're calling the business side of pro sports now. Is Sharapova really breathy in interviews? I've watched some of the pressers, and she's downright monotoned.

Serena's chances at the Australian Open:

From CraigHickman: It's an even year. Serena, who is no boorish bully simply because she lost her mind on court once in her entire career, won't even make the final. But I like the way you think!

The greatest woman player of all time:

From Kriso: I was a fan of Steffi Graf, and it is truly hard to argue against her being classed as the greatest woman tennis player. However, if my memory serves me well, i remember that in her prime, Seles, prior to being knifed in the back, was often getting the better of Graf. Had she not had that terrible incident the outcome to both players' majors count could be much different.

The greatest male player of all time:

From Kriso: I have to disagree [with the choice of Pete Sampras]. Firstly, not only has Federer won all the grand slams, he has actually been in four french open finals. Sampras, great player that he was, only ever managed a semifinal. Secondly, Federer has made the semifinals or better of the last 22 grand slams; thirdly, Federer has been in the last 17 out of 18 grand slam finals (a streak of 10 and 8). No player in the open era has managed this. In addition, Federer has a great variety of shots and does not solely rely on his serve and volley. On at least four occasions, Federer has come close to winning the [calendar-year] Grand Slam. Roger Federer is without doubt the greatest tennis player of all time. I would even go as far as to say that he is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, athletes of any generation.

From RosalindScotUK: Is there such a thing as the greatest player of all time? I don't think this can be answered. Maybe the answer can be found in who plays the greatest at a particular time of an event. Roger is "Mr Rightnow" and Rafa is "Mr Nowandagain." If Rafa were to beat Roger’s records, would that make him the best?